Page 99 of The Moment Promised

“You think you can just wipe seagull shiton my face and not suffer the repercussions?” I raise my eyebrows in a playful challenge and watch Finn’s eyes go wide in realization.

“Hell no.” He slowly backs away toward the shore but I’m a faster swimmer.

I dive beneath the blue depths, toward the small island only fifteen feet out.

When I break the surface, I hear Finn’s, “Fuck.” Followed by a splash, and before I know it, I feel a presence behind me.

I walk up the incline of the sand, until I’m fully out of the water.

“Don’t even think about it, Adeline,” he says firmly, running a hand through his wet hair to get it off his forehead.

I ignore him with a painfully wide smile on my face, I grab onto the large rocks that make up the beginning of the jetty, climbing them with excitement.

“Come back!” Finn calls as if he was still standing in the sand, but he isn’t. He’s climbing the rocks, following me to the bridge that connects the small island to the beach.

There’s a three-foot stretch between the rocks and the concrete ledge of the bridge. I grip the bridge and hoist myself up and let out a murderous laugh.

“Quit evil laughing up there,” Finn says, exacerbated behind me.

I turn around, kneeling on one knee with an outstretched hand to help Finn onto the bridge. He rolls his eyes and easily pulls himself onto the tall platform without my help.

Rude.

“Okay, we’re here. Can we leave now?” He lets out a breath.

I slowly ease backwards to the edge of the bridge, until my heels are over the ledge. It’s a good twenty-foot drop.

“Adeline, don’t—” He rushes to me with his arm out as if he could grab me.

I step back with a screech and the thrill of adrenaline invigorates me.

The loud splash of my body against the ocean knocks the air out of my lungs. I guess it takes the pure silence of being underwater with salt burning my nostrils to make me feel alive again.

But hey, I’ll take it.

I kick my legs and breech the surface. Finn’s still on the bridge, counting. “Eight…nine…ten.” He jumps over the ledge.

I laugh when he comes up, gasping for air as if he’s been free diving for three minutes straight.

I squeeze my eyes shut as he splashes my face. “Just for that, the last one back buys pizza.”

“What?” Finn asks, but I’m gone without answering.

I push and kick through the water until I reach the sand of the beach. Finn doesn’t catch up to me for another twenty seconds.

He’s soaking wet with shoulders slumped and an even expression. “We’re getting a full meat lovers,” he says as he passes me on the way to his car.

I love this man, even when he’s a grump.

Hell, that might be my favorite version of him.

“So, this is the place you two were always running off to?” My mom observes the exterior of Pete’s. The place I’ve spent working endless hours for but never felt fulfilled.

“It’s the best pizza place in town,” Finn says, proudly grabbing my hand and pulling me close to him as we walk toward the door.

Finn holds the door for my mom and me. The jingle at the top always boosts my mood somehow. It reminds me of Pavlov’s experiment, and I salivate every time I hear the welcoming jingle on Pete’s door.

Or maybe it’s the overpowering smell of pizza. Or possibly it’s the happy atmosphere I grew to love Finn in.

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